OCR Award and Certificate
in
Employability Skills
Unit 11:
Preparing for and learning from
interviews
This unit is about:
Planning for a job interview including:
•
•
•
•
•
Arrangements for your interview
Researching information about the job
Preparing your questions and answers
Your interview
Reviewing your performance
Arrangements for your interview
Sam telephones his local
cinema in response to an
advert he has seen in the jobcentre for a
part-time sales assistant
Arrangements for your interview
He talks to the manager who asks him to come along at
2pm the following Wednesday for an interview
Sam needs to prepare!
Arrangements for your interview
He needs to:
Find out the times of the bus to get him to
the interview for 2pm and times of the
buses back home afterwards
Print a copy of his CV and personal
reference to take with him to the
interview
Arrangements for your
interview
He needs to:
Research the cinema company
Prepare answers to the questions he thinks
he may be asked
Prepare the questions he would like to ask
them
Researching information about the job
Sam is going to the cinema
with friends on Saturday
evening and takes the
opportunity to speak to one
of the cinema staff to find
out what it is like to work
there
Researching information about the job
He discovers that there are 3 shifts most staff work
- 10am to 2pm, 2pm to 6pm and 6pm to 10pm
When he gets home he checks the local bus timetable to
make sure that he can get to and from the cinema at those
shift times
Researching information about the job
He looks on the cinema website to find out more about
the company
He finds out that they have a SuperSaver Tuesday when all
tickets are priced at £3
Researching information about the job
He finds out that on Monday afternoons they show old black
and white films
He also discovers that after 6 months staff get a 10% staff
discount on cinema tickets
Preparing your questions and answers
Sam prepares for questions he may be asked at
interview such as:
Which days are you willing to
work, including weekends?
What customer service
experience do you have?
Preparing your questions and answers
He prepares a list of his strengths, skills and
experiences:
Confident communicator
Captain of his local football
team, organising weekly
training sessions
Experience of working with people
of all ages – as a volunteer for the
area’s local fun runs
Preparing your questions and answers
He writes down in his notebook the list of questions he
wants to ask at his interview:
What hours would you like me to work?
What activities would I be doing?
Is there a chance I could be asked to
cover
for colleagues at short notice?
Who would be my boss?
How much am I going to be paid?
How often am I going to be paid?
When will I hear if I’ve got the job?
Your interview
Sam arrives 10 minutes early and reports to the reception
staff
He knows first impressions
count so he has decided to
wear smart casual clothes and
he got his haircut the day
before the interview
When the manager approaches
him, Sam shakes his hand and
gives his name. He waits for the
manager to ask him to sit down
Your interview
Sam answers the interview questions as clearly and
positively as he can
He has his notebook of questions
ready and waits until the end of the
interview to ask them
One of his final questions is when
he will hear back from the manager
He shakes hands with the
manager before he leaves,
thanking him for his time
Reviewing your performance
Sam thinks about his interview when he gets home
What went well and what did
not go so well?
He arrived on time for the interview and
had prepared well for the questions he
thought he would be asked
+
Reviewing your performance
He could have practised his
answers better when asked about
his experiences with customer
service – he forgot to mention he
helped his Uncle Richard during
the Summer at his farm shop
He could have been more
relaxed and confident
-
Sam got
the job
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 Slide 4 man with phone: Jane0606/Shutterstock.com  Slide 5 alarm clock: Gemenacom/Shutterstock.com  Slide 6 Bus sign: FazakasMiholy/Shutterstock,com, printer:
Vasabii/Shutterstock.com  Slide 7 cinema icon: sashkin/Shutterstock.com, man with question mark: 3Dmask/Shutterstock.com  Slide 8: man at cinema: Texelart/Shutterstock.com
 Slide 9 bus: James Steidl/Shutterstock.com  Slides 10 and 11 laptop: RSAStudio/Shutterstock.com  Slides 10 film reel: LiquidWorks/Shutterstock  Slide 11 black and white image:
SubbotinaAnna/Shutterstock.com  Slide 12 man: Krill__M/Shutterstock.com  Slide 13 man talking: Lucudmyla Kharlamova/Shutterstock.com  Slide 14 man in football kit:
JAlcaraz/Shutterstock.com  Slide 15 notepad: HiSunnySky/Shutterstock.com  Slide 16 man with chair: Coramax/Shutterstock.com  Slide 17 man handshake: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com
 Slide 18 man thinking: amasterphotographer/Shutterstock.com  Slide 19 clapping animation: Presentermedia.com